Summer Fun!

I can't believe that school is already out for summer! We've been trying to do some fun things with the kids since it has been so warm outside. They both love getting outside! I've been busy trying to get things organized at home. I'm pretty sure that is just a never-ending project! Ha! I had last week off and we will start our summer program tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it. We have 71 kids enrolled this year. Last year we had 42, so we've really grown! Plus, it is only three days a week so I have Monday and Friday off! I'm going to try and plan some fun activities for the kids on those days. Here are some pictures of the fun we've had so far!

We had Water Days the last two days of school. Andrew LOVED it! He was the first one to just jump right it!

We met the Browns on the Bentonville Square for First Friday and had a lot of fun with them!

Murdoch and Madelyn sharing some puffs!

We let the kids ride the ponies, Madelyn didn't like it at all! She got off really quickly!

Andrew, on the other hand, loved riding the pony!

We let the kids stick their feet in the fountain. Finally, Andrew stuck his head in and said he was going to wash his hair.

One of the families from the preschool hosted a Pre-K Graduation cookout. It was a lot of fun to visit with the families and the kids enjoyed playing in the water!

This could be the cutest girl in a bathing suit I've ever seen!

Andrew and his friend Frankie had a great time with the water guns!

May Madness

May has been a long month, and it still is not over yet! I have felt like I have just been running nonstop lately. Between getting things wrapped up to end the year at the preschool, gearing up for our summer program, enrollment for fall, and trying to accomplish everything on my t0-do list before June 2, I am worn out. On top of that we have had 4 cookouts, 3 birthday parties, one dentist appointment, one well-check, two ENT visits, 3 graduations, and a Easter egg hunt make-up at the church. Whew! Did I mention my to-do list is a three column, single spaced, 11 point font mountain that I am struggling time climb? Oh yeah, and we've had about 10 tornado warnings and 22 days of rain. I am ready for June. Actually, I am ready for August and our vacation to the Cayman Islands...alone! The kids are going to Mimi and Grandads and I am not going to move for about 5 days. The only movement I plan to make is to roll over in my beach chair or to go eat dinner. In the midst of the madness, I haven't really taken that many pictures. But, here is what I have...

My Mother's Day gift from Andrew! He made me a card and gave me a plant. I love it! I also love that the kids got to go and visit Mimi and Grandad that weekend. It was nice and relaxing!
Miss Madelyn hunting eggs. She is just getting so big! She had her 18 month well-check on the 13th. She is 24 pounds and......I don't remember the rest of her stats. I am pretty sure I wrote them down...somewhere! She is just the sweetest thing...and clingy and whiney, but I'm sure that is just a phase!

She is a busy girl. She climbs on whatever she can and just runs wild. She gives Andrew a run for his money for sure!

Andrew found a ton of eggs! They were also all full of M&M's, which he proceeded to gobble up. I had to finally take them away and put them up on the counter where he can't get to them. I was finding M&M wrappers all over the house!

Andrew is REALLY REALLY REALLY into Thomas the Train. Honestly, I love that he has found something he enjoys so much. He will play for hours by himself! I have had to ban Jason and Andrew going to Wal-Mart together though. Every time they go Andrew convinces Jason to buy him a new train!

Aunt Emily came to visit from California. I was glad she came over and got to spend some time with Andrew and Madelyn. She hadn't seen them since Christmas and they have really changed a lot since then!

We've had a couple of cookouts with the Hinds and the Browns. We are going to be sad when the Browns move to St. Louis next month. Murdoch was helping to push Madelyn on the swing. They both loved it!

Andrew had Caravan Graduation last Sunday night, where he proceded to royal embarrass me and cause Jason to "sweat more than he ever has in church." (direct quote) Andrew started off pretty well, but then the music came on and it was time for him to sing and dance. Wow. I know he didn't get that rhythm from me! It was so funny! Then, he couldn't sit still and was rolling across the stage and poking people around him. I finally had to get up and take him off stage. That was fun...

He did get to go up and get his badges. He did really well for that, until they were walking off stage and he grabbed the microphone. Thankfully, the teacher caught it before he started to sing his solo! We've got our hands full with that one, but I think Little Sister is going to be even more of a handful! When I learn how to upload videos I will show it.

So, that is what we have been up to these days. Tonight is our Pre-K graduation. This is my first class of Pre-K kids that I have been with for the entire year! I am pretty excited about it!

A Very Happy Easter!

Even though it poured down rain the entire weekend, we still had a really great Easter! The egg hunt at the church got moved into the gym due to the rain. We still had a great turn out!

Madelyn hid from the Easter bunny. It really surprised me that she wasn't into it this year.
Andrew, on the other hand, loved the Easter bunny!

The kids were divided into different age groups for the egg hunt. I went with Madelyn and Jason took Andrew. I am sad that I didn't get pictures of Andrew hunting eggs, but Jason has some on his phone. Madelyn didn't really care about hunting the eggs. She just wanted the candy inside!

Andrew and I made resurrection rolls. It was a really neat activity. You take a marshmallow, which represents Jesus, and roll it in butter and a cinnamin and sugar mix to represent the oil and spices they used on the body. Then, you put the marshmallow into cresent roll dough and roll it up into a ball to represent the tomb. Finally, you cook the rolls and when they are done the marshmallow has melted and the roll is hollow representing the empty tomb. Plus, it is a really yummy snack!

We died eggs while the rolls were cooking. Note: this year we got a Veggie Tales egg dying kit. The colors just weren't as bright as the PAAS.

Andrew enjoyed dropping the eggs- very gently- into the cups!

Cute Veggie Tales eggs!

The Easter Bunny came to our house! Andrew asked if Santa was coming with him! Ha!

Andrew was excited to get Gordon the train and Rex and Dr. Porkchop from Toy Story.

Madelyn got a Mrs. Potato Head and a really cute cow and a book to go with it.

Our attempt at an Easter family picture.

One of these days we will get a good one!

We went to Fred's Hickory Inn in Bentonville for lunch. It was so good! Plus, it was so easy!

Andrew really enjoyed his meal!

And I enjoyed this! After this plate was empty...and I ate dessert...it was naptime!

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

Touch A Truck

Last weekend we took the kids to Touch-A-Truck. They both had a great time getting to climb on the different vehicles. It took Andrew a minute to realize that it was alright for him to climb on everything! Madelyn was trying as hard as she could to keep up with Andrew, but she just wasn't big enough to do everything he did. She got to do quite a bit though. Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Andrew was in heaven with the Stanley Steamer truck. He loves vacuums!
He had about a million questions for the guy. He asked him to get the hose out and hook it up to the carpet cleaner to show him how it all worked. Thankfully, the guy was glad to do it!

They enjoyed playing in the ambulance.

I'm pretty sure this is a "I can to do this mom" look!

Riding in the boat

Having fun in the fire truck. He asked the fireman if he was the one that came to our house when he set off the carbon monoxide detectors.

Riding in the racecar

So proud of herself!

Driving the dump truck!

A Super Saturday!

This Saturday we wanted to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, so we headed to Hobbs State Park. It is a short drive out Hwy. 12 in Rogers. They have redone the visitors center and it has a neat little museum area with different (stuffed) animals that you can find in the park, trees and plants, a cave, and a table with different things you can touch. They have a little kid's play area too. They also have made a sidewalk where you can walk through the park. It was really nice. The kid's had a lot of fun. After that, we were starving, so we drove down to Fayetteville to eat at Shogun. It was really good and the kid's had a lot of fun. We enjoyed our fun day together.

Andrew liked the deer antlers. He thought they were a lot like Bambi's! There was a coyote and a bobcat in this display. Andrew looked at them and said "Look mom, it's a dog. Oh, and here is a kitty cat."

Madelyn playing with the stuffed animals.

Inside the cave exhibit. You could press these buttons and a light would come on to show you what it was. Andrew and Madelyn thought it was a game.

Exploring outside. They did a controled burn on Monday (we didn't know that before we got there) and so the ground was pretty yucky.

Madelyn didn't want to walk on the pine needles. She held her hands up and cried.

Andrew found lots and lots of sticks.

Madelyn wanted to walk along the wall, just like Andrew!

At Shogun, the set us by a large fishtank and Andrew loved it. He yelled (very loudly) "Look Mom, I found Nemo. He's in here."

Madelyn couldn't believe the fire!